₹4.61 lakh in fake notes seized in Shahjahanpur; 3 held with printing equipment and vehicles

Three individuals were arrested in Shahjahanpur with counterfeit currency worth ₹4.61 lakh, along with materials used for printing fake notes. The arrest was made by Chowk Kotwali police near a dirt road leading from the National Highway to Umarganj. The accused have been identified as Nafis from Moradabad, Pankaj Gangwar from Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand, and Nikhil Mishra from Shahjahanpur.

Items recovered include 840 counterfeit ₹500 notes, 370 of ₹100, 64 of ₹50, and 40 of ₹20, as well as a car, motorcycle, laptop, printer, lamination machine, and paper used in printing. According to Superintendent of Police Rajesh Dwivedi, Nafis is the leader of the group and had learned the technique of counterfeiting from a person named Zakir in Rampur. The group had been manufacturing fake currency since 2018 and was circulating it through brokers in various nearby districts.

The arrested persons were allegedly planning to expand their activities in Shahjahanpur, and Nikhil Mishra had facilitated accommodation for the other two accused. Police are interrogating the accused to obtain further information about the network and identify the brokers involved in the circulation of fake currency. Efforts are ongoing to trace other associates and recover additional materials, if any.